• Farms are a great place to work and experience French culture, but very few will provide work permit assistance.culture image by Beatrice Preve from Fotolia.com
  
  If you have a desire to get dirty in the grape fields of Bordeaux or influence the world's fashion from Paris, you will need a French work permit, considered one of the most difficult work visas to receive in the world. Strict government policies on granting work permits will leave you in bureaucratic tangles, but you can get a work permit by following France's rules. The Direction Departmentale du Travail, de L'Emploi et de la Formation Professionale (DDTEFP) or French Department of Labor, reviews and issues work permits.
  
  

Type of Work Permit

• Two types of work permits, temporary secondment and full work, can be obtained for employment in France. A temporary secondment is for those that will be under the employment of a non-French company, but working with a client in France. Employees who work full-time for a a recognized French company may get a full work permit.
  
  

Length of Permit

• For those in France on a temporary secondment permit, the maximum stay is 18 months, but it is possible to receive a nine month extension after arrival. There is no time limit for those on full work permits, but the DDTEFP maintains the right to revoke a worker's permit at any time.
  
  

French Sponsorship

• For those wishing to receive a full work permit, the French employer must make a request to the DDTEFP. The company must also pay a processing fee of 160 Euros as of August 2010.
  
  

Full Work Permit Qualifications

• While there are no set qualifications for a temporary secondment permit, the DDTEFP sets minimum standards for foreign employees wishing to work for French companies to protect the French labor force. The DDTEFP reviews three factors : professional status, education and salary. Professional status, or "cadre", refers to an employee's experience in a specific field. This taken into consideration if a company cannot find a suitable French national with the necessary experience level to fill a job vacancy. An advanced degree, or education in a highly specialized field, is also taken into consideration for the same reasons as "cadre". A foreign employee must be paid the equivalent of a French employee.
  
  

Visa and Passport

• Once the DDTEFP approves a work permit , an employee can apply for a long term visa at any French consulate, though working with the one in the employee's home country can make things easier. Employees can change their visa status once inside France, but as stated earlier, French immigration involves many bureaucratic hurdles; a temporary visa may expire before being granted a work permit. Passports must be valid for at least three months after your intended departure date.